We all know the phrase money doesn’t buy you happiness – but a few million in the bank would certainly make you smile, right?

To make it rich you need to work hard and pay your dues, and hopefully, maybe, just maybe, you’ll be lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time with the right idea and maybe…

Whether it’s in business, entertainment – however you want to make it, no matter how much hard work and dedication you put in there’s always lots of maybes.

So, unless you’re lucky enough to inherit a fortune, there’s really only one shortcut to the champagne lifestyle – winning the lottery.

Everyone would love to know a way how to win the lottery. Which is why there’s squillions of books, websites, products, scams and sundry BS on the topic.

But the simple truth is that, as with any dream, being focused and committed isn’t enough – you also need to incredibly lucky!

Take heart, however, because, dreams do come true and there are ways you can increase your chances. Most of the time when people don’t win anything on the lottery it’s because they’re making one, or all, of these five fatal lottery mistakes.

Mistake #1: They Don’t Understand The Odds

Remember that big billion-plus Powerball jackpot back in January? If not it’s time to stop hibernating and wash the cave lichen out of your hair.

At one point retailers were selling thousands of tickets per minute – it was insane. You’ve heard of lottery fever, this was more like the lottery equivalent of 28 Days Later!

They were all blinded by the jackpot, and never once thought to look at the odds.

One chance in 292,201,338 – that’s your chance of winning Powerball.

To put that number in perspective take the population of the US, around 318.9 million, minus the population of Texas. So imagine you, and all those other people, bought one ticket each – that’s your competition right there.

Which brings us on to the next reason people don’t win…

Mistake #2: They Play The Wrong Lottery

Once you take a closer look at the odds you’ll see that the bigger the jackpot, the more unlikely you are to win it. So, if winning really is your goal you should be focussing on medium or smaller jackpot lotteries with much better odds.

Don’t forget to check out the prize tiers too – it may still be difficult to win the jackpot, but, I’m sure you’ll agree, a second or third prize windfall would be pretty sweet too!

Mistake #3: They Still Play With Tickets

Every month or thereabouts we get another horror story about someone who either lost their winning ticket or had it stolen. They end up with no choice but to try argue their case to cynical lottery commissioners. In other words, they end up with nothing.

Or how about the clerks who try pulling a fast one, claiming the prize is worth only 100 bucks, paying cash out of the till then keeping the ticket for themselves? We hear that story a lot too.

Playing online protects you from that, it also gives you way more options that can help you win making it a no-brainer.

Mistake #4: They Play The Same Numbers As Everyone Else

How lucky are your lucky lottery numbers? Statistically speaking not that lucky at all. Turns out most people play the same numbers – usually dates, between 1 and 31 – and that’s why so many people end up sharing jackpots.

Even when we try to pick random numbers we can’t. Scientists have found that humans aren’t able to pick numbers at random, we might think we can, but we’re actually still coming up with numbers that have significance to us subconsciously.

So, if you don’t like to share how do you ensure that the numbers you play are unique? Simple – play computer-generated quick picks!

Mistake #5: They Give Up

Never give up on your dreams. If you dream of winning the lottery then you should pursue it. The chances of you winning on a single ticket are staggeringly high, but that probability is reduced the more you play.

There are lots of people out there who say winning the lottery is impossible – ignore them. If that really were the case why do multi-win stories crop up with such frequency?

Perhaps you’ve heard of a few, like four-time winner Joan Ginther or the legendary seven-time winner Richard Lustig. You know what they all have in common? They played the lottery religiously and, despite winning millions, still continue to so!

So don’t give up, don’t loose heart, because who knows those millions might be just around the next corner.

About I2Mag

I2Mag, an Internet & Design Inspiration Magazine having emphasis on empowering and inspiring people by spreading the waves of knowledge. I2Mag is an independent news source dedicated to covering start-ups, reviewing internet products, social media, digital culture and technology news.